Chevron is having a really tough week of reality. Following Saturday’s blockade at their Richmond CA Refinery, activists rallied outside Chevron’s offices in San Francisco yesterday. During the rally a group of activists blockaded the Chevron offices further highlighing Chevron’s war, and climate crimes, by disrupting business as usual. At 7:30am activists blockaded the main entrance and parking garage entrance of the downtown Chevron offices with barrels and bodies. 4 other activists got inside the offices where they found Chevron was closing the offices until further notice; those folks in turn, passed out information fliers throughout the building and when they ran out of fliers…well, they started their own blockade from the inside! Soon there after a snake march with 200-300 folks came by the action and rallied around the activists as they shut down Chevron. The action was successful in not just stopping Chevron’s business as usual but, stopping business entirely!
The target of the action was Chevron’s Energy Solutions ( aka. greenwash extravaganza) offices. While this arm of Chevron does do consulting for business owners on energy efficiency while investing small amounts in solar energy, the work of Chevron’s Energy Solutions in a drop of water in a bucket of oil. The total investment from Chevron to their Energy Solutions arm is a whopping $250 million A YEAR. Sounds big, but to put it into some context Chevron currently invests $50 million A DAY in refinery expansions (no doubt preparing for the impending wave of dirty tar sands) and new oil exploration projects. To break it down even more, Chevron’s Energy Solutions accounts for 1/8 of 1% of Chevron’s total profits in 2007. In terms of finding real climate solutions Chevron has a loooong way to go. For every solar panel they may promote there are expansions happening at dirty, century old (ceriously some refineries are over 100 years old) refineries like the one in the community of Richmond.
As a company who continues to break its own profit records with the blood of Iraqis and the lungs of Richmond CA’s children it is not going to do us any favors, only people power is going to transform this energy revolution.
Chevron is essentially approaching bonfire with a tanker of oil and a teaspoon of water. Sounds like people power is breaking out the fire hose on climate change.
Onward
**note all 13 arrested were cited out and released same day.
No War, No Warming, Resistance is Forming!
Hell yea